Queen Ahmose Nefertari - (1570-1505 bc) was a New Kingdom influential queen with political and religious titles. She was the spouse of Ahmose, son of SeqenenRe Taa II and Queen Ahhotep, and it´s thought that she was her sister or halfsister. Ahmose Nefertari was never a regent, but through her, we get some knowledge about the new political role of women in the early 18th Dynasty. As an example, she was the first to carry the title of God's Wife of Amun. This title was bestowed on her by Ahmose and the event is recorded on a stele in the temple of Amun at Karnak. The stele also gives that there was an endowment of goods and land together with the office, which would stay with her and her heirs for all eternity.

The titles of this lady were many:

King´s Daughter
King´s Sister
King´s Great Wife
King´s Mother
God´s Wife
Second Prophet of Amun*

Ahmose Nefertari was also thought to have been involved with the king´s building projects. The limestone quarries opposite Memphis, and the alabaster quarries of Assiut displays her name, and on a stele at Abydos there is an inscription by the king, saying that he sought her approval before erecting it to the honor of his grandmother Tetisheri. So Tetisheri was her mother-in-law.

Often, there are listed ritual offerings dedicated by queens and kings, but those by Ahmose Nefertari, which have been found in temples at Karnak, Abydos, Deir-el-Bahri and Serabit-el-Kadim in Sinai, outdoes them all, both chronologically and numerically. This tells us of her involvement in the cult, both concerning the buildings, the rituals, and the dedication of ritual objects. Probably this was done in her capacity as God´s Wife of Amen, a title which she preferred to use instead of other royal titles like 'King´s wife' etc.

Ahmose Nefertari outlived both her husband and her son Amenhotep I. During the next king, Thutmose I, she still enjoyed a high esteem, and the king set up a statue of her in the temple at Karnak. The date of her death is unknown, but a fragment of an inscription tells us: 'when the God´s wife Ahmose Nefertari, justified with the great god, lord of the west, flew to heaven'. Both during her lifetime and after, she overshadowed her son´s principal wife Meritamun, who, even though the title of God´s Wife of Amun was passed over to her, did not leave any significant traces. Maybe it was a question of, then as well as in our days, being engaged and taking on duties, in order to make a lasting imression.

Her importance lingered after her death. She and her son Amenhotep I was deified and worshipped as their patrons in the workmen´s village at Deir-el-Medina, where her cult survived all throughout the New Kingdom.

* - The use of the Greek word 'Prophet' was asnot introduced until the Greek period. Her title would probably have been something like: Hemt-Netjer-Tepet.